Hozantei

Rotenburo (outdoor bath) with a view of the river. Small but cozy, consisting of three sections with hot, moderate, and cold water. The water in the main section is clear and golden.

419. Hozantei, Kurokawa Onsen (pt.1) ★★★ The previous review was about higaeri, which motivated me to book an overnight stay. This second review is about the accommodation. The place is notable for having very few rooms, all in separate cottages (two rooms per cottage as far as I could tell), there's a pond with ducks, the whole complex consists of several buildings, and there's nothing else around. It creates the atmosphere of a mini village, walking around feels like being in The Witcher. All overnight rooms come with their own onsens. I booked a room with a rotenburo and indoor bath, the room itself is spacious with a nice balcony overlooking the river. Also, staying overnight revealed that the main onsen has a men/women rotation. So you can significantly expand your onsen experience here by staying overnight compared to higaeri. For dinner I had double kaiseki for one person. The presentation was beautiful in a separate building, and the volume of food was quite large: of all the double kaiseki I've tried so far, this was definitely the most generous. Regarding service — the base level of service is good. After checkout they can deliver your luggage to another ryokan and take you separately to a different location. The downside — part of the service is provided by non-Japanese staff from Taiwan, China, and Southeast Asia. They do their job well, but the service level still feels slightly below Japanese staff. And when you do interact with Japanese staff, the difference becomes even more noticeable. The ryokan owner frequently appears and shows very warm hospitality with high-level service. Really great place, definitely worth considering for a stay: the Witcher village atmosphere. The distance from the main part of the village is a minus, but that's also the plus for atmosphere, both during the day and especially in the evening. 07.04.2025 08.04.2025

419. Hozantei, Kurokawa Onsen (pt.2) ★★★ About the onsens. 1. First men/women bath rotation. Same one I used during the previous higaeri visit. Large stone bath on the riverbank. Water is clear, slightly cloudy greenish, temperature 40 in the main area and 42 in the passage toward the cold bath. Slight proper sulfurous onsen smell. At some point the rotenburo splits into a second zone with clear water — that one is already cold. View of the river, trees, and cottages. 2. Second men/women bath rotation, available in the morning. View of the river, forest, hill, and a road in the distance. The stone bath has three zones: 2.1. Main zone with clear water with sparse fine mineral deposits, temperature 40. 2.2. Zone with cool water for reclining, temperature 33. 2.3. Far zone with cold water. 07.04.2025 08.04.2025

419. Hozantei, Kurokawa Onsen (pt.3) ★★★ About the onsens. 3. In-room baths. 3.1. Main outdoor stone bath. View of the river and trees. Small but proper rotenburo. The bath starts deep, then gets shallower and shallower, with the top part closer to the river essentially being a reclining zone. Water is clear, slightly cloudy. Temperature 39. 3.2. Outdoor cold stone bath. 3.3. Indoor bath with clear water. Breathing is excellent, you can open the window for a view and better ventilation. Water is clear, slightly cloudy with a proper faint sulfurous onsen smell, temperature 41. 07.04.2025 08.04.2025

Double meals at Hozantei (dinner and breakfast) 07.04.2025 08.04.2025

419. Hozantei, Kurokawa Onsen ★★★ I visited on a day trip. It is located far from the center of Kurokawa – about a 40-minute walk. Day trips are quite rare, from 11:00 to 15:00. It is part of the Kurokawa tag. Essentially, it is a micro village consisting of about 10 houses and buildings in its own separate location. There is a small pond where koi and ducks hang out. In winter, there was also a "frozen" tree next to the pond. The whole location felt like something out of a computer game like The Witcher. For the day trip, they allowed access to the outdoor bath, but when an elderly lady escorted me to the building with the onsen, she flipped the sign to say the bath was occupied – I didn't fully understand if that meant the bath became private at that moment or just indicated that someone was inside. Inside, there is a nice stone bath on the riverbank. The water is clear with a slightly cloudy green tint, at a temperature of 42°C. At first, it seemed that was all there was, but around the corner, there was another half of the rotenburo. At some point, the rotenburo splits into a second zone with clear water – that water is cold. The view includes the river, trees, and houses. It's a very cool place in itself and a great rotenburo. Getting in on a day trip is difficult due to the unstable short time slot and the location of the place relative to the village center. As for accommodation, as I understand it, there are no rooms but only five houses, each with its own onsen. I will try to stay here overnight next time; the place left a strong impression.